Laxford Bridge

Laxford Bridge
Laxford Bridge
Coordinates	58°22′29″N05°01′01″W / 58.37472°N 5.01694°W Coordinates: 58°22′29″N05°01′01″W / 58.37472°N 5.01694°W
Carries	A838 road
Crosses	River Laxford
Heritage status	Category B listed
Characteristics
Material	Stone rubble
History
Construction end	c.1834
	Laxford Bridge Location in the United Kingdom

Last updated October 01, 2019

The Laxford Bridge is a stone arch bridge in Sutherland, Scotland which carries the A838 across the River Laxford north to Rhiconich and Durness.

Sutherland is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire to the south and the Atlantic to the north and west. Like its southern neighbour Ross-shire, Sutherland has some of the most dramatic scenery in the whole of Europe, especially on its western fringe where the mountains meet the sea. These include high sea cliffs, and very old mountains composed of Precambrian and Cambrian rocks.

Rhiconich is a remote hamlet, located at the head of Loch Inchard, in Sutherland, Scottish Highlands in the Scottish council area of Highland. Rhiconich is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Laxford Bridge and 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Durness on the A838 road. The B801 at Richonich links the village of Kinlochbervie and associated crofting townships such as Oldshoremore to the A838.

Durness is a village and civil parish in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north coast of the country in the traditional county of Sutherland, around 120 miles (190 km) north of Inverness. The area is remote, and the parish is huge and sparsely populated, covering an area from east of Loch Eriboll to Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point of the Scottish mainland.

The bridge was built about 1834 by the Dukes of Sutherland – the road from Lairg, one of the "destitution roads" built during the potato famine, not being completed until 1851.^[1]^[2]^[3] The bridge is a category B listed building.^[4]

The Highland Potato Famine was a period of 19th century Highland and Scottish history over which the agricultural communities of the Hebrides and the western Scottish Highlands saw their potato crop repeatedly devastated by potato blight. It was part of the wider food crisis facing Northern Europe caused by potato blight during the mid-1840s, whose most famous manifestation is the Great Irish Famine, but compared to its Irish counterpart it was much less extensive and took many fewer lives. The terms on which charitable relief was given, however, led to destitution and malnutrition amongst its recipients. A government enquiry could suggest no short-term solution other than reduction of the population of the area at risk by emigration to Canada or Australia. Highland landlords organised and paid for the emigration of more than 16,000 of their tenants and a significant but unknown number paid for their own passage. Evidence suggests that the majority of Highlanders who permanently left the famine-struck regions emigrated, rather than moving to other parts of Scotland. It is estimated that about a third of the population of the western Scottish Highlands emigrated between 1841 and 1861.

An army transporter crashed on the bridge in 2009 causing so much damage that it had to be closed to traffic. Detours of at least 97 kilometres (60 miles) were required (off-road) and the additional distance by road was 160 kilometres (100 miles).^[5]

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The A838 is a major road in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland. It runs generally northwest from the A836 in the Lairg area to Laxford Bridge on the west coast of Scotland, then generally northeast to Durness on the north coast, and then generally east/southeast to Tongue, where it rejoins the A836. The A836 takes a more direct route from Lairg to Tongue.

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Laxford is a remote area in the far Northwest Highlands of Scotland around the River Laxford which runs northwest from Loch Stack to Laxford Bay. This bay is an inlet of Loch Laxford, a sea loch and Special Area of Conservation. The river is well known for its salmon fly fishing, indeed the name "Laxford" derives from the Norse for "salmon fjord". The area is important geologically, being a region of shear in the Moine Thrust. A road bridge, Laxford Bridge, crosses the river adjacent to the A838 and A894 roads, the road junction making the spot well known to tourists. Laxford is in Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland; Scourie, 12 kilometres away, is the nearest village. The area forms part of the North West Sutherland National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development.

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Erskine Ferry sailed across the River Clyde from Erskine to Old Kilpatrick. The ferry was also referred to as East Ferry of Erskine as there was another ferry to Dumbarton a few miles down river, known as West Ferry. It is reputed to be the oldest ferry crossing of the Clyde. The crossing was part of the A740 route from Paisley to Old Kilpatrick. It was established in 1777 and replaced by the Erskine Bridge in 1971.

References

↑ "Laxford Bridge". Canmore. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
↑ "Otters surveyed ahead of Laxford Bridge works". Northern Times. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
↑ Taylor, Ashley (11 November 1955). "All purpose fleet meets Sutherland's needs". Commercial Motor Archive. pp. 144–145. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Laxford Bridge over River Laxford (Category B) (LB446)" . Retrieved 28 March 2019.
↑ "Army truck falls 30ft into river". BBC News. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

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[canmore-1] "Laxford Bridge". Canmore. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

[northerntimes-2] "Otters surveyed ahead of Laxford Bridge works". Northern Times. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

[taylor-3] Taylor, Ashley (11 November 1955). "All purpose fleet meets Sutherland's needs". Commercial Motor Archive. pp. 144–145. Retrieved 2 February 2014.

[histscot-4] Historic Environment Scotland. "Laxford Bridge over River Laxford (Category B) (LB446)" . Retrieved 28 March 2019.

[bbctruck-5] "Army truck falls 30ft into river". BBC News. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2014.